Birds on a Wire

Sometime last week, Noel told me the birds had discovered the tray of bird seed set in the dahlia bed. And boy had they. They've taken to hanging out on the cottage roof and along the electrical service wire, swooping down to nosh on the seeds as soon as the coast is clear.

Oddly, they don't seem to care for the black sunflower seeds, which I was assured were of interest to all birds by the guy at the birdfood store. I even told him what the birds we had in the yard were, after painstakingly looking them up in a book. On the other hand, he was a guy who works at a birdfood store, so maybe I was expecting too much actual expertise. I think I'll buy the "songbird mix" next time and see if that goes over well with them.

Also in bird news this week is the arrival of a set of feeders and nests -- more classy and official than using a planter tray. I need to come up with some sort of pole system for hanging them, given the dearth of suitable trees, so more news on that later. I'm also plotting ways of making a tray feeder that is not on the ground, so as to protect the little birdies from our neighborhood felines.

posted by ayse on 08/01/06